Over the years, the responsibility for device control (e.g., pumps, valves, actuators and the like) has migrated to embedded processors. The traditional way of capturing the behavioral requirements for a device controller was with textural descriptions. While this approach worked for simple devices, it failed when confronted with more complex behaviors. Recognizing that device controller behavior is state oriented, coupled with the advent of powerful state machine modeling tools, capturing the behavior requirements in verifiable statecharts soon became the method of choice.
While there are many ways to design embedded software that will carry out device control laws, they tend to be designed around the specific device functions, resistant to requirement changes, and do not take advantage of the statechart modeling environment. What is lacking is a sophisticated software architecture that embeds the actual statechart behavior, is designed for rapid change processing, and can be used with a family of devices.